Monthly Archives : March 2019

Cornish psych-rockers HANTERHIR are back with a new single and video, and they’re launching it exclusively with Vive Le Rock!

Originally from the Redruth band’s self-titled debut EP, ‘Radio Song’ is taken from their new compilation Our Hour just released through Easy Action Records.

The band’s critically acclaimed triple-album The Saving Of Cadan was released last summer making numerous end-of-year lists, including our sister mag Louder Than War. The band are currently in the process of planning a series of UK dates.

Manchester band IMPERIAL WAX are to release their debut album this Spring.

Gastwerk Saboteurs is set for release through U.S. label Saustex Records on 17 May, preceded by the single ‘No Man’s Land’.

Describing themselves as “noise rock and garage brawlers unafraid of a psych workout or a rockabilly dust-up,” Imperial Wax comprise frontman Sam Curran with Keiron Melling, Dave Spurr and Pete Greenway, three 11 year veterans in the longest serving and last line up of THE FALL.

The band will be heading out on tour in support of the album. Catch them live at…

THE STRAY CATS have unveiled a brand new video for the first single from their new album

‘Cat Fight (Over A Dog Like Me)’ taken from the album 40, which is out on 24 May on Surfdog Records through Mascot Distribution.

The album, which celebrates the band’s 40th Anniversary, is the Long Island rockabillies’ first new full-length in 26 years. It’s available to pre-order here.

“I love this video!” says Slim Jim Phantom. “It’s an animation style that combines the best elements of vintage and contemporary into a rockin’ joyride through our song.”

“I love our new single and video for ‘Cat Fight’,” agrees Lee Rocker. “I’m married to a hot brunette with a temper so I get it!! Bouncy walking boogie bass, twangy tough guitar and slamming drums. The Stray Cats are back!!”

As previously announced, the band play four UK dates in June. Support on all dates comes from Aussie rockers THE LIVING END.

With five great bands covering the whole spectrum of psychobilly, Friday evening at Bedlam is a cool way for the curious to check things out. Local band GOGO LOCO open proceedings and they’re an extremely likeable duo. Guitarist and vocalist Joe is like Chuck Berry with restless leg syndrome, pacing the stage like a student from The Ministry of Silly Walks. Original tunes like ‘Maraca GoGo’ and ‘GoGo Loco Twist’ capture the energy of the British R&B boom only cranked up to 11. Their energetic performance is well received and throws down the gauntlet for the whole weekend.

Rising to the challenge are THE X-MEN. They immediately evince a strong garage-rock influence: imagine The Stooges jamming with Them while imbibing hallucinogens. A superb swirling psychedelic sound hypnotises the audience as The X-Men pull out a cover of The Syndicate Of Sound’s ‘Little Girl’ along with their own classic ‘She’s A Witch’. Closing with a rendition of The 13th Floor Elevators ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ only endears them to the crowd further.

The aptly titled FRANTIC VERMIN are a pleasing amalgamation of of styles as rock’n’roll meets ska with a country twang. It’s no mean feat to blend different genres but Frantic Vermin pull it off effortlessly by underpinning their sound with a strong song sensibility. A trio who make a big noise they turn in a crowd pleasing set.

The ultimately silky voice from the coolest cat in town COLBERT HAMILTON brings his band to entertain Bedlam. Risqué without being rude, ‘Dirty Dog’ kicks his set off in fine style with Colbert working the stage like a pro and by the time we reach ‘Daddy Rolling Stone’ he has the crowd in the palm of his hand. Ably backed by his band the BAD BREED, ‘Rock Party’ turns the whole venue into a… rock party, and they bring a nice flavour to the evening.

Providing the missing link between rockabilly and psychobilly, RESTLESS hit the stage and immediately set the venue alight. ‘After Midnight’ is a definite highlight along with a high voltage version of Golden Earring’s ‘Radar Love’, a song they’ve now made their own. ‘Mercury Blues’ is performed with great abandon theirs is a nice set that ebbs and flows and ticks all the right boxes and provides a fitting culmination to the opening day.

Saturday 16th March

Opening Saturday are a late replacement on the bill: the GARBAGE BAGS. With a sound guaranteed to blast away any hangovers they remind me a little of The Cramps… only more hyped and amped. Drummer and vocalist swap slots for one song which, along with some neat changes in tempo, keeps things interesting. With a wall of distorted guitar and a hyperactive frontman it’s an entertaining start to the day.

ATI EDGE AND THE SHADOWBIRDS arrive from Hungary armed with an adrenaline charged brand of rock’n’roll. With songs about cars, girls and cannibals they can’t really go wrong. They plough through a crowdpleasing set of which ‘Rockabilly Boogie’ is a definite highlight.

Putting the psycho in psychobilly are Japan’s GIGANTIX who prove the scene is truly global. They turn in a fun-fuelled set and the crowd soon warms to their surf-tinged sound. A manic cover of The Animals’ ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ raises the level of insanity and they win the first encore of the day: ‘Space Song’.

THE ROCKETZ hit the stage like a well- oiled machine and treat the throng to a bawdy ‘I Want U Dead’ and an atmospheric ‘Before The Night’. Spawned from the fertile Los Angeles scene, they are part of the vanguard (along with NY’s Screamin’ Rebel Angels) who are taking rockabilly to a new audience. ‘Killing’ is a set highlight and the band should be on your radar.

The SURFIN’ WOMBATZ are always guaranteed to raise more than a smile and, like their South London counterparts The Gonads, they keep their tongue firmly in cheek. With a thirty-year history they’ve built up an impressive discography and they deliver a career spanning, best of set. ‘Bald Billy Boogie’ really rocks and the band relive their Klub Foot days with tracks from their debut album. They have a sound that incorporates different styles (like the ska-infused ‘Peter Cushing’) and they’ve finally written a surf song but in their own inimitable style: ‘Surfin’ South London’. ‘Lack of Beer’ initiates a huge sing-a-long before a raucous rendition of Bo Diddley’s ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover’ brings the afternoon to a fitting finale.

Berlin’s DAMAGE DONE BY WORMS are out of the trap like a greyhound chasing a hare and by second track ‘Beer’ they’ve won over any doubters and pulled the slackers in from the bar. ‘Tommyknockers’ from their debut album follows; each track is delivered with passion but ‘Butcher Of The Night’ is a definite highlight. They use catchy guitar lines to snare the listener as evidenced by a fiery ‘Gasoline’ and their cover of The Buzzcocks ‘Ever Fallen In Love?’ is a fitting tribute to Pete Shelley.

THE HANGMEN turn in a solid set but fail to really capture the crowd’s full attention. Thankfully, a period of recording inactivity has been broken and the new tracks debuted point to a bright future.

Now making their fourth appearance at Bedlam, the MILWAUKEE WILDMEN hit the stage and provide a master class in stagecraft. ‘March’ stomps like an army and ‘Get In The Pit’ is suitably raucous. Their sound really swings like a pendulum especially on ‘Die Alone’ while a rocked up cover of Dead Or Alive’s ‘(You Spin Me) Right Round (Like a Record)’ wins the crowd’s approval. They close their set with another cover, this time a warlike version of Stan Ridgeway’s ‘Camouflage’ which is segued with Matchbox’s ‘Midnight Dynamos’. Genius.

THE RICOCHETS are welcomed to the stage like old friends and a cover of ‘Brand New Cadillac’ only increases their standing as scene legends. ‘Paranoia’ follows along with the insanely catchy ‘I’m a Loser’. With no signs of slowing down, they hit us with an excellent version of Generation X’s ‘King Rocker’ and a fine rendition of ‘Woolly Bully’. ‘Black Magic Woman’ follows as the band turn in a well received set. ‘In Hell’ is a precursor to two well deserved encores which includes a delirious ‘Psycho’.

A tangible tension builds as we await NEKROMANTIX which is finally released when the band hit the stage. By second track ‘Night Nurse’, the entire venue is under their spell and the band turn in a set that proves why they’re undisputed headliners. Bathed in blood red light and with his trademark coffin-shaped double bass, vocalist Kim looks like a demented preacher and delivers a sermon in the shape of ‘Alice In Psycholand’ and ‘Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend’. ‘The Blood Cure’ raises the temperature and initiates some serious wrecking in the pit and there’s a real chemistry in the band and they perform with an obvious joy. In the live environment the band become infinitely heavier and they wouldn’t seem out of place at a metal festival. Waves of affection radiate between crowd and audience and Nekromantix are the perfect band at the witching hour. Miss them at your peril.

Sunday 17th March

Suited and booted, there’s a touch of The Meteors in THE MIGHTY INTERCEPTORS’ performance. Their set is a short, sharp shock and there’s no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. New track ‘Danger In Every Curve’ points to a bright future.

The SPACE WASTERS deliver a fine slab of garage thrash which shows a definite Stooges influence. Opening shot ‘Action’ doesn’t take prisoners and neither does ‘I Don’t Like You’ and ‘Leave Me Alone’. They cap an enjoyable set with a rocket like X-Men cover.

Norfolk’s FAT’N’FURIOUS certainly know how to please a crowd which they do by covering ‘Baby Blue Eyes’ and ‘Monkey Man’. However they’ve got some cool original tunes like the mighty ‘King Of The Asylum’ which sits easily next to a rendition of The Meteors’ ‘I’m Insane’ (which they fuse with the Pistols’ ‘Pretty Vacant’). Closing with ‘Good Golly Miss Molly’ means they won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

A late and welcome addition to the bill are Bedford-based HENRY & THE BLEEDERS. With a set largely debuting new material, ‘The Beast’ in particular stands out with its catchy guitar motif and signposts a majestic new record. Led by the hyperactive and effervescent Henry, the band deliver a turbocharged set and close with perennial favourite ‘(I Gotta) Rock On (For You)’ sees them bow out in style.

Fun with a capital F, the DEATH VALLEY SURFERS are a six-piece with a big sound. Plenty of brass and even some violin add a touch of brevity to their set but underneath the madness they’ve some great tunes like ‘She’s Not Home’. A cover of ‘Tequila’ evinces a real surf influence and their set is a riotous cornucopia of sight and sound. J.B. From the Space Wasters joins them for a frantic set closer ‘Johnny B. Goode’.

THE GRISWALDS open Sunday evening in suitably loopy fashion with a set that doesn’t waste a second. ‘Spasms’ really grooves as ‘Hooker’ and ‘Fright Night’ follow in quick succession. New track ‘Psychobilly Love Affair’ is set to the sound of Bad Manners’ ‘Skinhead Love Affair’ while ‘Crazy Jim’ brings a ska influence. A faithful cover of The Undertones’ ‘Teenage Kicks’ is well received before an encore of The Housemartins ‘Happy Hour’ brings thing to a conclusion in an appropriately surreal fashion.

With their heavy ska sound PADDLE CELL are something of a revelation. With a sound that’s heavily laden with brass they soon get the whole venue skanking. As you’d expect, ‘Waiting’ and ‘Montego Bay’ set the venue alight and Paddle Cell are rewarded with the biggest cheer of the evening.

After some tour tribulations and shenanigans, THE SURF RATS perform with a new drummer who only had 24 hours to learn a set – but you’d never guess. ‘Vampire Lover’ really rocks as does ‘Evil Girl’ and The Rats put their unique stamp on rock’n’roll. The adrenaline-infused ska of ‘Smash it Up’ adds some variety to their set and new track ‘It’s The End’ shows some real development. A well-deserved encore follows in the shape of ‘Welcome to Killafornia’.

BATMOBILE are worthy headliners and, as the first non-British band to perform at The Klub Foot they have a special relationship with the UK. Hitting the stage the band are like whirling dervishes and it’s obvious why they’ve stayed at the top of the game for 35 years and many would argue that new record ‘Brand New Blisters’ is a career highlight. Affection radiates between band and audience as they plough through a greatest hits set and with their back catalogue they can’t go wrong. Running close to curfew the band still manage to cram in all their well known tunes plus a few fan favourites ensuring nobody leaves disappointed.

South Yorkshire has long been a plucky region. It has needed to be. Even its left leaning governments of the 1980s – which helped gain the whole area the moniker ‘The Peoples’ Republic of South Yorkshire’ – couldn’t stop Margaret Thatcher waving her malevolent wand and decimating the region’s coal industry. But it probably doesn’t matter one jot to Hands Off Gretel frontwoman Lauren Tate – she wasn’t even born. It was left to the likes of Saxon, Def Leppard and the Human League to provide the homegrown musical backdrop to the years of decline. But now there’s a new force of nature to be the voice of misfits, miscreants and nursery rhyme nightmares. Hands of Gretel were born in 2015. Inspired by the likes of Hole, The Distillers and Nirvana, this is acidic grunge-pop laced with South Yorkshire grit. Mental health, body image, loneliness – the topics covered aren’t for anyone having a bad day. Lauren Tate is a girl who has a lot to get off her chest and her cathartic release appears to be cooking up a true shitstorm in certain areas of music business who are naming Hands Off Gretel as a band to watch. I Want The World delivers vitriol and addictive sounds in equal measure. Album opener ‘Kiss Me Girl’ is music’s answer to a line of coke – you’re sucker-punched within seconds. But the title track is the killer tune and truly shows the quality of the band – hook-laden and instantly addictive, it is reminiscent of the very best of the band’s influences and more.

French rockers IRON BASTARDS have announced the release of a new album with an incendiary new video.

An anthem for the absurd and violent times we’re currently living in, ‘Days Of Rage’ is taken from the band’s forthcoming third album Cobra Cadabra, which is due out through Hell Prod Records on 4 April. It’s available to pre-order here.

Formed in Stasbourg in 2013, the Motörhead-worshipping trio based themselves in Southend-on-Sea for several months while they toured the length and breadth of the UK, before returning home at the start of last year. Since forming, they’ve played more than 240 gigs in 11 countries.

Aussie legends THE CHURCH have announced a pair of London dates this Summer.

Following on from the success of their weekend event at Bush Hall, Shepherds Bush last June, the band return to the venue on Sat 8th and Sunday 9th June.

The event will see the band playing the albums Starfish and Seance in their entirety. The weekend will also feature band member solo sets and a screening of the Jean Cocteau film Wood Of The Poet with a live improvised soundtrack. There will also be a selection of tracks from Steve Kilbey’s 2008 solo album Painkiller, plus material from Jack Frost and Far Out Coporation, bands formed by Kilbey and Ian Haug (respectively) with The Go-Betweens’ Grant McLennan.

The Steve Kilbey biopic Something Quite Peculiar is being screened at the Regent Street Cinema on Friday 22nd March as part of the Vive Le Rock-sponsored Soundscreen Festival. Kilbey plays a solo show at The Islington London on Saturday 23rd March.

Ace French punks GUERILLA POUBELLE have announced a series of UK and European dates next month.

The Paris trio, whose name translates as ‘Dustbin Guerilla’, head out on a co-headlining tour with Wisconsin’s ARMS ALOFT throughout April and May including shows in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Canterbury.

To whet your appetite, they’ve released a new video for the track ‘Golgotha’ from their 2017 album La Nausée, utilising footage from John Carpenter’s They Live!

Chicago post-punks MUET are set to release their debut album this week and they’ve just unveiled a new video to coincide.

‘Muscle’ is taken from the self-titled album which is set for release on Friday 22 March through Metropolis.

Fronted by singer Steven Seibold, with Daniel Evans on guitar and bass and Vince McAley on drums, the band has a pedigree born of experience in post-industrial bands like Pigface, Chemlab, Die Warzau and Hate Dept.”

Speaking about the making of the video, the band say it “… was the first time we had all actually played in the same room together as a band. We made the album entirely by remote due to our singer living a few hours away from the rest of the band in Chicago. We traded files back and forth, the band recording demos and sending them to Steven and he would send vocal takes back. Somehow, it seemed to gel quickly. So, we’re actually playing together for the first time in this video, and we are really playing, not miming along to the song like most videos. We were so excited and perhaps a little nervous to put all the pieces together and play, that it seems to give the video an endearing quality. The editing was done by Vince McAley, while our friend Myles Arwine did a phenomenal job capturing and directing the footage. We can’t thank him enough.”

EVIL BLIZZARD have announced the release of a double live album for Record Store Day, and they’re launching it with a new video exclusively with Vive Le Rock!

‘Tell Me’ is taken from VILEVILIVE which was recorded live at the Sonic Rock Solstice Festival in Worcestershire last year. The album follows on from the last year’s release of the band’s debut album The Worst Show On Earth.

VILEVILIVE is set for release though the band’s Crackedankles label on Friday 12 April, in time for Record Store Day the following day. It will be available on white vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with a free download card, limited to 500 copies. It will also be available on CD, also limited to 500.

The band play a special headline show at Preston’s iconic Guild Hall on Staurday 13 April, with support from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, The Membranes and Part Chimp. Tickets are available here.

The PUMP IT UP! POWERPOP WEEKENDER is back for a second year, following the success of last year’s event.

Presented by Some Weird Sin, the two-day spectacular moves to a new venue, The Lexington in Islington, North London, over the weekend of 27 and 28 July.

Lined up to headline are Dublin’s THE NUMBER ONES and Detroit’s NIKKI CORVETTE. Other acts on the bill include LAST GREAT DREAMERS (pictured), THE PRISCILLAS, RICH RAGANY & THE DIGRESSIONS, MUSIC CITY, FAST CARS, AUTOGRAMM with still more to be announced.

Stoke folk-punks HEADSTICKS head out on tour this month in support of their just released new album.

Kept In The Dark, the band’s third studio album, was released last week and is available on CD and double vinyl through STP Records.

The four-piece formed in 2012 out of the ashes of Cheshire’s TOWER STRUCK DOWN and Staffordshire’s JUGOPUNCH, developing their own brand of ‘revolutionary punk roots rock’n’roll’. Along the way they’ve shared stages with the likes of Spear Of Destiny, Buzzcocks, The Wildhearts and Ferocious Dog.

Check out the video fro ‘Peace Or War’…

This latest run of shows includes dates with STEVE IGNORANT’S SLICE OF LIFE and INTERROBANG, plus an appearance at Bearded Theory and a London date at The Bird’s Nest in Deptford. Full dates are…

Fast-rising Carlisle youngsters HARDWICKE CIRCUS are heading out for a tour of the South-East at the end of the month.

The six-piece, who’ve recently been taken under the wing of pub-rock pioneer and Stiff Records founder Dave Robinson, have just been in ex-Vibrator Pat Collier’s Perivale Studio recording a new EP with the legendary Terry Edwards (Higsons, Gallon Drunk, NJE) in the producer’s chair.

“We have been looking forward to getting to grips with the South Coast for a good while to bring our Carlisle music down to the sea,” says frontman Jonny Foster.

“This tour will be great for The Hardwickes,” adds Robinson. “Playing a lot of dates in Kent and the South Coast will show them off big time.”

A petition has been raised to erect a plaque in honour of the SEX PISTOLS’ final UK gig.

The gig took place at Huddersfield’s Ivanhoe’s nightclub on Christmas Day 1977, by which time the band was banned from playing in most of the UK. The event was organised as a benefit for the families of striking firemen, who’d been in dispute for nine weeks and were struggling to feed their families.

Unusually, the gig was open to all ages and footage shot by film-maker Julien Temple catches the unlikely sight of kids pogoing to ‘God Save The Queen’. The film footage would later see the light of day in the 2013 documentary Never Mind the Baubles: Xmas ’77 With the Pistols.

The petition, by fan Ian Lockwood and addressed to Kirklees Council, asks that a blue plaque to commemorate the event be erected on the facade of the former club, originally part of Huddersfield’s ornate Grand Picture Theatre and later incorporated into a supermarket.

THE STRAY CATS have unveiled the first single from their new album, their first in 26 years!

‘Cat Fight (Over A Dog Like Me)’ is taken from the succinctly-titled 40, celebrating the Long Island rockabillies’ 40th Anniversary. Check it out here.

The band recorded the album at Blackbird Studio, Nashville at the end of last year with producer Peter Collins. Check out this studio clip featuring band and producer talking about the album…

“You have to understand how unique The Stray Cats are,” explains Brian Setzer. “It’s me playing an old hollow body guitar, Slim Jim playing two or three drums, and Lee Rocker slapping a stand-up acoustic bass. I get to write new songs and then play them with my buddies. Somehow we created a new and exciting sound with this simple idea. And you know what? A lot of people agree!”

“This new album really feels like the first record we did, it’s really natural and comfortable,” adds Lee. “For the recording, we went live – like doing a gig, we recorded in a real, organic way. We were all in one room standing next to each other recording live, with the amps turned up to 10, it captured the undefinable things that happen when a band is great, it captured the magic that takes place and an undefined spark.”

“We’re very, very focused when we get into the studio,” continues Slim Jim. “It didn’t feel like a long time had passed since we had done this, it felt very natural and familiar. We were all in a row with everyone watching each other, so it felt like a gig in the set-up. We really embraced that a little bit for the album, it’s like an old way of making records. The modern is meeting the vintage, which has always been our inspiration.”

Featuring 12 all-new original songs, 40 is set for release on 24 May on Surfdog Records via Mascot Label Group Distribution. It will be available as a limited boxed edition CD, with two bonus tracks, a set of coasters plus postcards and stickers, as well as a limited editon siver vinyl LP. You can pre-order the album here and get ‘Cat Fight…’ as an instant free download.